Opinion: The Maple Leafs Have A PR Problem That Outweighs Every Other Issue Facing The Team

It doesn't matter whether you believe the media and the fans in Toronto are to blame for the season that Auston Matthews and the rest of the Maple Leafs are having.

What matters is that ex-Leaf Mitch Marner believes it. So does ex-NHLer Pat Maroon. And they're not the only ones.

There is a well-worn narrative out there that Toronto is a difficult place to play. That you can't win with 25 microphones jammed in your face every day. That the city — and its bloodthirsty reporters — won't be happy until they chase every single star player out of the city, which is why the Maple Leafs have gone more than two decades without advancing past the second round of the playoffs.

Roll your eyes if you want. But the sooner the Leafs shift the narrative and address this PR nightmare head-on, the sooner they can start addressing the real problems that are ailing this team, like finding a top-four defenseman who can move the puck or a winger who can play give-and-go with Matthews.

That starts at the very top.

There is a reason why Chris Pronger's name has been mentioned lately as a potential hire for the vacant president role created by the exodus of Brendan Shanahan. It's not because he has his version of the "Prongerplan". But as Adam Proteau wrote in a column for The Hockey News earlier this week, "The Leafs would get a lot of great PR from the move."

Heading into summer free agency, where the Leafs should be trying to convince one of Darren Raddysh, Rasmus Andersson or John Carlson to sign here on July 1, the Leafs could get all the positive relations that they can get.

After all, Toronto may no longer be seen as a desirable place to play. Not after all the losing. And certainly not after all that has gone wrong off the ice as well.

The Leafs have gone from a place that used to attract big-name free agents, such as John Tavares, Joe Thornton and Jason Spezza, to one where they couldn't convince even one of Florida's pending free agents to hold off on an extension and come to Toronto last summer.

Hiring someone like Pronger would be like when the Leafs hired Shanahan to execute his 'Shanaplan.' Part of that plan was tanking. The bigger piece, however, was changing the way that the Leafs are perceived after sending Phil Kessel packing.

Shanahan removed the cushy country club feel of the Leafs and replaced it with a dormitory approach, thanks to GM Lou Lamoriello and coach Mike Babcock. We're not sure whether hiring Pronger would mean an end to Matthews' facial hair. But his hire could go a long way in reminding players why Toronto can be a good place to play — that is, when you're winning.

Of course, it's the constant losing that is the problem. And yes, it's a bigger problem  than some fans and media members may want to believe.

This week, Maroon told TSN's Overdrive that the pressures in Toronto outweigh the other 31 markets in the NHL.

"There's not 25 media people in your room every day," said Maroon, who played for eight different teams, none of which were the Leafs, over his career. "In Tampa, there's four people that walk in your room every day."

At the Olympics, Minnesota Wild defenseman Quinn Hughes spoke directly to the narrative that Toronto has made life difficult on its stars.

"That's what the media in Toronto should be talking about – Auston Matthews led us to a championship," he said.

Matthews, who is having his worst statistical season in the NHL, laughed. Players obviously talk. They know that Matthews and Marner got blamed each and every time they stubbed their toe in the playoffs. They saw the jerseys that were tossed on the ice during last year's second-round loss to the Panthers.

More recently, they heard what Marner said he went through last season — and why he eventually left for the anonymity of Vegas — when fans were apparently stalking his home and media were cross-examining every single one of his comments.

On their podcast, Wingmen, Ottawa's Brady and Florida's Matthew Tkachuk seemed genuinely shocked that Leafs fans actually booed Marner in his return to Toronto on Jan. 23.

"He gave a bunch of a blood, sweat and tears for that team, for that organization, and of course, his hometown team," said Brady Tkachuk, who is captain of the Senators. "I think it's just crazy, you kinda go from nine years as an important piece of your team and all of a sudden he comes in on a different team and people just turn their back on it right away."

Sometimes, they don't even wait until you leave.

A day after the Leafs lost their eighth straight game, one Toronto radio sports show was debating whether Matthews, who has not scored a goal since Jan. 27, had checked out or was hiding an injury. Another radio show questioned whether the 28-year-old had passed his prime and was no longer considered an elite player.

"If he wanted out, this is what it would look like," said TSN's Bryan Hayes.

This is, remember, a player who two weeks ago captained the U.S. to its first gold medal at the Olympics since 1980, while scoring three goals and seven points in six games — second-most among U.S. players. It was the pinnacle of his career and should have been celebrated as such. And yet, in his return to Toronto, some fans still went out of their way to boo Matthews because he chose to visit the White House with the rest of his American teammates.

In hindsight, maybe Hughes, Maroon and the others are right. Maybe Toronto is part of the problem.

And the faster the Leafs accept that, the sooner they can start addressing it.

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